Everton boss David Moyes has declared himself hopeful that Wayne Rooney will commit himself to a new, five-year deal at the Merseyside club. ”I think we have made a good offer,” Moyes said. Everton’s hopes of hanging on to their most precious asset have not been helped by the boardroom crisis at the club.
Former deputy president of the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) Keith Parkinson reiterated on Wednesday that the main reason for his resignation was that he had lost confidence and trust in the leadership of SA Rugby — and not prompted by a deal made with South African players in Australia.
Zimbabwe’s independent Tribune weekly on Wednesday lost its court bid to return to the newsstands, a month after it became the third newspaper to be shut down in a year. Justice Tendai Uchena of the Harare High Court ruled that the official media commission was entitled to revoke the Tribune‘s licence.
A patient suffered a broken leg and several others were injured on Wednesday when the ceiling of a Vanderbijlpark hospital caved in, Vaal Rand police said. Captain Maria Mazibuko said the ceiling of the outward patients department at the Medi-Vaal private hospital suddenly gave way and fell on patients.
A Lutheran Church elder was killed and two others critically injured while travelling to Pretoria on Wednesday afternoon to buy new chairs for their church. The accident happened on the Ben Schoeman highway in Centurion, Gauteng. When the church’s bishop arrived on the scene, he found the church’s money had gone missing.
Amid growing corruption allegations against the Kenyan government, the European Union has postponed a decision on whether to give Kenya new grants, EU and Kenyan officials said on Wednesday. The EU delayed its decision because it wants clarification on some issues, Cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura said, without elaborating.
A special Vatican inspector began his inquiry on Wednesday into the discovery of a vast cache of child pornography at a seminary where candidates for the priesthood photographed themselves kissing and fondling each other. Austrian Bishop Klaus Kueng was appointed on Tuesday as Pope John Paul II’s ”apostolic visitor” to deal with the scandal.
South Africa had the potential to be the engine of much-needed economic growth on the African continent but the government appeared to be in the process of abandoning growth-favouring economic policies, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) leader, Tony Leon argued in the United States on Wednesday.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said on Wednesday it is negotiating with striking workers from petrol stations, car dealers and panel beaters following discussions with the Automobile Manufacturers Employers’ Organisation. The strike started on Tuesday.
Israel’s construction of its West Bank barrier went ahead full force on Wednesday, hours after the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the structure to be torn down in compliance with a World Court ruling. An Israeli adviser said Tuesday’s resolution "signifies the bankruptcy of the UN".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119087">UN calls for Israel to tear down wall</a>